I have many fears - snakes, thunderstorms, heights, things spontaneously catching on fire. Those are just a few examples. Tied into my fear of heights is my fear of riding scary theme park roller coasters. I don't like the feeling I get when my body is hurtling down a large drop and then quickly jerked in another direction and then the whole process is tortuously repeated until the ride is finally over. Before last week, the last roller coaster I rode was the Judge Roy Scream at Six Flags. I didn't enjoy it at all, screamed through the whole ride, and haven't ridden a roller coaster in the years since. So, when it came time to think of challenge to complete while on spring break at Walt Disney World, riding a scary theme park coaster seemed like the perfect thing to pull me out of my comfort zone.
I spent many hours researching the trip, and I did some reading about all of the potential scary rides I would be facing. My guidebook listed some of them as not to be ridden by people who were afraid of heights, and from a previous trip to the Magic Kingdom I was already scared of Space Mountain because it's inside, in the dark, and you can't see what's coming. After weighing all the options, I decided to attempt all the "afraid of heights" rides and Space Mountain for my vacation challenge.
Scary Ride #1 - Soarin' at Epcot
Fasten your seat belt on the multi-passenger glider and be lifted 40 feet into the air. Swoop up and soar towards the clouds and spectacular California panoramas. An IMAX projection dome wraps 180 degrees around you, so you're engulfed by the impressive scenery. Special cameras on airplanes and helicopters captured many of the shots and the glider moves the same way the aircraft did, so you really feel like you're flying as you glide over awe-inspiring vistas and landmarks. Feel the wind in your hair. The air fills with the scent of orange groves, evergreens and the sea breeze. Your feet dangle free. Dip down so close to the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean, you think your toes will get wet. Then return to the sky and continue on Soarin' to a fantastic finale where fireworks burst into sensational colors around you.
So many scary things for a person who is afraid of heights! I was a little nervous as the glider started lifting in the air, but I shouldn't have been. Soarin' was awesome! Probably one of my favorite rides in all the parks now. You actually can feel the breeze and smell the orange groves, and the scenery is just amazing. The final verdict: Not at all scary!
Scary Ride #2 - Mission: SPACE at Epcot
Mission: SPACE, a motion simulator ride, is as close as you can get to blasting off into space without leaving Earth. This attraction realistically mimics what an astronaut might experience during a space flight to Mars. Mission: SPACE utilizes a multiple-arm centrifuge that spins and tilts to simulate the illusion of speed and gravitational forces. Realistic sounds from overhead and vivid video images only add to the experience of the simulation.
This ride also had a warning about motion sickness, but since I've never suffered from it before I didn't have any worries even when I saw the little white sickness bags built right into the ride. The blast off and flight through space were super cool, but the trouble started when we crash landed on Mars and then started flying erratically all over the planet. I was thinking I was going to have a serious need for the little white bag as my stomach was doing serious flips, but we landed and disembarked just in time. Overall, the ride was really fun (and we even chose the LESS INTENSE version), but maybe next time I need some anti-nausea medicine before riding. The final verdict: Not scary but definitely nausea inducing.
Scary Ride #3 - Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom
The scary Space Mountain description is below.
Blast off on a journey into outer space on this classic attraction. Board a sleek, rocket-shaped vehicle in the glow-in-the-dark Space Port and begin a steady climb up the 180-foot high mountain, passing the Mission Control booth and myriad pulsating lights along the way. Once at the top, feel the wind race across your face as you are propelled through the remote blackness of the dark universe—illuminated only by shooting stars, celestial satellites, spinning black holes and shimmering constellations—during a rip-roaring rocket ride through the farthest reaches of time and space.
Yikes! I was super nervous about riding this one since I had actually witnessed people getting off of the ride when I first visited Disney World in the early 90s. The plan was to ride it first thing once we got inside the park, but the line was already super long, so we got a FASTPASS to return and ride just before our breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. That just left me an extra hour and a half to be nervous! I needn't have been, though, since it wasn't scary so much as fast and jerky. I think not being able to see what was coming was actually helpful since I couldn't see what was ahead. However, my newly discovered motion sickness issue did raise it's head right at the end of the ride. The final verdict: Not scary but just slightly nausea inducing.
Scary Ride #4 - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal's Islands of Adventure
The description for this doesn't sound at all scary, but from what I'd seen and heard, I was a little wary about something that was supposed to be similar to Soarin' but on a much larger scale. Of course, being a huge Harry Potter fan, I was not about to miss this, and it was unbelievably awesome! It was as if you were flying on a broomstick with Harry and Ron, escaping dragons and the Whomping Willow and playing Quidditch. You are spun and flipped on your back, and I had to push my nausea to the side to enjoy the last parts of the ride. I just wish the line wasn't so long so we could have ridden it again! There were so many details that I'm sure I missed something. The final verdict: Awesome but nausea inducing. I think my next visit will have to include dramamine.
Not-So-Scary Ride That Turned Scary #5 - Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom
I wasn't really scared of this ride until I walked past that giant drop several times. I had myself so worked up over that drop that every time our log went up just a little bit I was sure it was the big one and ducked and screamed. I think everyone on that log was laughing at me! The final verdict: Scary only if you work yourself up over a three second drop.
Not-So-Scary Ride That Turned Scary #6 - Test Track at Epcot
This ride didn't really seem scary to me from the description. I thought it was just an amped up version of a go cart ride. Boy, was I wrong! The beginning is a series of replications of tests done on cars for safety, but the last part is a fast and scary ride around the outdoor track in which you go up the side of the wall, practically. That was definitely scary for me, and I screamed bloody murder to the amusement of others on the ride with me. The final verdict: Scary for me, but probably not for regular people.
Now that I have successfully conquered some of my scary theme park ride fears, I think next time I might try this one:
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios
A full account of the fabulous Walt Disney World/Harry Potter World adventure coming in a future post!
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